Retire on 3k per month thoughts...

[kyounge1956]

On days I work I make a frozen pizza at about 2:30pm. I eat 6 pieces and put the other 2 in my lunch bag for work. At approx. 11pm I have "lunch" at work. I have my other 2 pieces of pizza along with a cup of easy mac. I also have a bag of doritos and a pack of nutty bars both of which I by in bulk at low prices. Sometimes i'll take a short snack break around 3am and have another pack of nutty bars. When I get home at 5:30am I have two packets of instant oatmeal, check my e-mail, then go to bed.
On my days off it varies a little more but I often have pizza then too. I have dinte mores beef stew and campbells chunk chicken with vegtable soup instead of easy mac and doritos. I'll often snack on cookies throughout the day. Sometimes i'll eat peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon as a snack(cheap and high protein).(snip)

What, no Top Ramen?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Cheaper if you bought those 20lb bags of beans and rice. Big markup on those frozen pizzas and nutty bars

 

[simple girl]

What, no Top Ramen?

That was a staple for me in college! That, along with hot dogs and mac and cheese. I also used to love breaded frozen fish with tater tots that I threw into the toaster oven. Oh, the simple days, when you didn't have to worry about nutrition or calories!

My grocery bill in college was around $100/mo. It's more like $400+ now, for 2.

 

[Martha]

Thinking about it to have $36,000 a year without pension or SS you have to have $900,000 in investments . That is a decent amount especially after this year . If you subtract a reasonable SS $1,600 a month you need $672,000 in investments still a decent amount so $36,000 a year is nothing to sneeze at . What I 'm wondering is what do you do if your budget is $36,000 all supported by investments and your investments drop by 30% or more which happened this year ?

That is the issue. It is hard to trust the 4% when it happens to you, and there likely isn't a lot of fluff in the budget.

 

[ChrisC]

That was a staple for me in college! That, along with hot dogs and mac and cheese. I also used to love breaded frozen fish with tater tots that I threw into the toaster oven. Oh, the simple days, when you didn't have to worry about nutrition or calories!

My grocery bill in college was around $100/mo. It's more like $400+ now, for 2.

In law school, my wife and I would clip coupons from the student newspapers. We found a Burger King coupon (buy one Whooper, get one free) with no expiration date -- bingo! I swear we must have hunted down at least 200 copies of that newspaper soon after our discovery and had a meal at the local Burger King at least once a week for the 3 years we lived in Manhattan. I seldom eat Whoopers these days, but when I do, it brings a great big smile across my face. We also had something called the student-faculty tea every Tuesday afternoon, where there was loads of free wine, cheese, pastries and veggies -- that was our evening's dinner. One thing about living in Manhattan and attending school there -- it's a good place to be poor and hungry -- as you can always find free or cheap eats. It's also a great place to be in love with someone!

 

[ziggy29]

That is the issue. It is hard to trust the 4% when it happens to you, and there likely isn't a lot of fluff in the budget.

Which is why I'll probably only use 4% if there's a fair amount of discretionary spending that can be cut in a terrible market like this one, and closer to 3% if not.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We survived on frozen chicken pot pies--they had some kind of veggie in them, too, so that counted. I wonder how much they cost today.

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

We survived on frozen chicken pot pies--they had some kind of veggie in them, too, so that counted. I wonder how much they cost today.

One marie calenders frozen chicken pot pie is like 650 calories so a couple of those and you're set for the day.

 

[ziggy29]

One marie calenders frozen chicken pot pie is like 650 calories so a couple of those and you're set for the day.

I think they're more than that. IIRC, the nutritional label on those things claim that one pie is TWO servings. (Yeah, right.) So take what's on the label and multiply by two, and you'll feel the big one coming...

 

[Bestwifeever]

Marie Callender's would have been much too nice and too expensive if they even existed back then--it was Banquet, baby, all the way, at 370 cals a pot pie!

 

[Independent]

Yep, I remember the calorie count on those Banquet pot pies. Easy and cheap and filling on a cold night. I tried all the varieties, but always went back to chicken.

 

[W2R]

When I was around 20-25 and a student I went with the generic mac 'n' cheese as my cheap staple food. It cost 18-21 cents a box at that time. I must not have eaten much of it or anything else because my memories are of feeling as though I was starving all the time. I was skinny as a rail.

 

[aaronc879]

Cheaper if you bought those 20lb bags of beans and rice. Big markup on those frozen pizzas and nutty bars

If I liked beans or rice i'd buy a lot of them but I don't. To the person who mentioned top ramen: I moved up to easy mac. It's 75cents a cup instead of 33cents but well worth it to me.

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

If I liked beans or rice i'd buy a lot of them but I don't. To the person who mentioned top ramen: I moved up to easy mac. It's 75cents a cup instead of 33cents but well worth it to me.

You gotta get the brick form of top ramen. It's only 10 cents and you can drain out some of the water before adding the spices which you can barely taste in that cup'o'ramen.

 

[ziggy29]

If I liked beans or rice i'd buy a lot of them but I don't. To the person who mentioned top ramen: I moved up to easy mac. It's 75cents a cup instead of 33cents but well worth it to me.

I could eat very cheaply on beans and rice and recipes using them. The problem is that my wife doesn't like beans. I suppose I could make something for myself, but beans and rice don't freeze all that well -- and if I made something only for myself, it would need to be something I could put into single-serving sized bags and freeze.

 

[W2R]

I don't have any figures right now but I would guess that I spend about $200/year on all of my clothes (including underwear, dressy, gym clothes, shoes, etc).

Just did the computations, and last year I averaged $35/month on clothes. That is about twice what I guessed.

 

[ziggy29]

Just did the computations, and last year I averaged $35/month on clothes. That is about twice what I guessed.

Pulling up a Quicken report, I see we budgeted $577 year-to-date on clothing, and our actual (so far) is $368.

 

[W2R]

Pulling up a Quicken report, I see we budgeted $577 year-to-date on clothing, and our actual (so far) is $368.

That's really good! I spent $418 in the year from Nov 21 '07 to Nov 20 '08. There's only one of me, so I have no excuse.

Actually I do have one LITTLE excuse - - the fact that half of what I spent was on a one day shopping binge right after I got the first distribution from my mother's estate. I don't expect to keep that up permanently.

 

[ziggy29]

That's really good! I spent $418 in the year from Nov 21 '07 to Nov 20 '08. There's only one of me, so I have no excuse.

Actually I do have one LITTLE excuse - - the fact that half of what I spent was on a one day shopping binge right after I got the first distribution from my mother's estate. I don't expect to keep that up permanently.

I actually wish we were way over budget in clothing... because that would mean my wife would have been putting together a wardrobe for a new job...

 

[REWahoo]

I actually wish we were way over budget in clothing... because that would mean my wife would have been putting together a wardrobe for a new job...

Or stepping out on you...

 

[W2R]

I actually wish we were way over budget in clothing... because that would mean my wife would have been putting together a wardrobe for a new job...

But usually one gets the job FIRST, then puts together an appropriate wardrobe. Or so I recall. Best of luck to her in her job search.

I won't even dignify REWahoo's response with a response!

 

[ziggy29]

But usually one gets the job FIRST, then puts together an appropriate wardrobe. Or so I recall. Best of luck to her in her job search.

Yeah, that's what I mean -- if we were a few hundred bucks over, it would mean that she already got the job that necessitated the new duds. It hasn't happened yet, so she doesn't get her shopping spree yet...

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I'm embarrassed to put down what I spend. You all are so dang frugal.

 

[Moemg]

I'm embarrassed to put down what I spend. You all are so dang frugal.

Don't be embarrassed I'll go first . My name is Moe and I spend over a thousand dollars a year on clothes . I'm addicted to looking nice. It started simply by just browsing JJill web site and next thing I knew I was hooked .I had to have that slightly funky yet urban look . I searched for cheaper versions but I kept on coming back . I was hooked and JJill had me . I wanted it all . The casual outfits , the co-ordinated separates , the fun dresses and the espardilles . I had to have the espadrille's . There was nothing I could do but come here and fess up I have a problem .

 

[ziggy29]

Don't be embarrassed I'll go first . My name is Moe and I spend over a thousand dollars a year on clothes . I'm addicted to looking nice. It started simply by just browsing JJill web site and next thing I knew I was hooked .I had to have that slightly funky yet urban look . I searched for cheaper versions but I kept on coming back . I was hooked and JJill had me . I wanted it all . The casual outfits , the co-ordinated separates , the fun dresses and the espardilles . I had to have the espadrille's . There was nothing I could do but come here and fess up I have a problem .

If you can easily afford it, it's not a problem.